Returning home
by Dovah Sil
Summary: As a kid James never had a great family that was until he met the "Animatronics" at the local Pizzeria. He would always be there, until his 14th birthday when he was whisked away by the foster care system. He longed to see his family again and after 7 long years he would finally get his wish. I'm not great with summaries, don't crucify me too much. Enjoy.
1. Prologue

_**Welcome to the first chapter of Returning Home. Each chapter will have a quote at the beginning. I am however yet undecided if I want my A/N at the beginning or end. Please feel free to leave a review, constructive criticism is welcome.**_

 _ **This is in no way connected to the Canon story and is An AU, as with all AU's nothing will be the same. This being said the Animatronics are more in line with Furry Androids and as such have fluid movements, eat, sleep, Express emotions, etc.**_

 _ **There are 8 Androids.**_

 _ **The originals (Freddy, Bonnie, Foxy & Chica) & The toys. They have their respective nicknames **_

_**Fredbear or Teddy = Toy Freddy [Male]**_

 _ **Tia = Toy chica [Female]**_

 _ **Mangle or Maggie = Mangle [Female]**_

 _ **Bon =Toy bonnie [Female]**_

 _ **I would like to thank Shadoweye77 for assisting me in writing this first chapter. On another note, Updates will be slow as I am both in school and work As a junior Firefighter with my local Fire Department. I will do my best to get updates out as often as possible.**_

 _ **Of course, Scott Cawthon owns the FNAF IP.**_

-A Rekindled Soul-

Chapter 1

"For each new door that opens, an old one closes"

"Hello, May I speak to Mr. Bryant?" A Voice crackled over the phone.

"Speaking."

The man on the other side of the line cleared his throat "Sorry, that's terribly impolite."

"It's quite alright."

"Anyways, Mr. Bryant, I am calling in regards to your night guard application."

James straightened up a bit "I uh, I had no idea that you would call so soon, Also, James is fine. I hate my last name.." James grabbed onto the locket around his neck.

The man gave a light chuckle from the other side of the phone "Well Mr... James, I'm hiring you, and not just because I genuinely liked your application. But because you served the community."

James Sighed lightly "I-I thank you sir."

"Please, Call me Fred, Sir is far too formal, now would you be able to come by tonight at around... 9 o' clock?"

James looked down to the locket with a heavy heart, however he refused to open it "Mhm, Yes s-Fred, I'll be there around 9."

"I look forward to seeing you James." The phone clicked and the line went dead. James however jumped up in triumph and although he was happy, the joy quickly faded into sadness. His breathing became muted and his heart slowed. Time seemed to pass slowly.

"I broke my promise.." James sat back down in his chair and broke down into sobs. "They probably hate me, I-If they even remember me." He gently laid his head back and went to sleep.

A repetitive noise rang out across the house signalling the time.

"Ugh, I'm aware of the time." James grabbed his phone from the coffee table to the right of his chair and turned it off. Sitting up he noted the phantom pain eminating from where his left arm used to be... "Joy.." James rolled his eyes.

James stood up "I should have some decent clothes here somewhere.." Wearing an expression of annoyance James decided to grab his old EMT pants and station shirt, sniffing the station shirt James grimaced "I don't think I've washed you for weeks, oh well." grabbing his keys James walked out the door and left for his new job.

The night sky was surprisingly bright considering it was the dead of winter. This however didn't stop James from driving to his job.

Pulling into the parking lot James found a parking space and pulled in. The red Ford Explorers engine gracefully wound down. Instead of getting out of the car James sat himself deeper into the drivers seat, with a deep sigh he gazed at the building.

James sighed and got out of his car, locking it he began walking the short distance to the pizzeria.

"Hello my boy, I assume you're James Bryant?" A deep voice called from the doors.

"Yes sir, that's me."

"Come, let's get you out of the cold." Fred held the door open for James.

"Thanks." James looked around "We aren't the only ones here?"

"Heavens no my boy, the cleaning staff have yet to finish up, and you have yet to get the mini tour." Fred had James sit down. "Have you ever been here before my boy?"

James looked Fred dead in the eye "Mhmm, I came here alot as a kid, the last time I was here though was for my fourteenth birthday... I always wanted to come back but, circumstances had my plans fall on their face."

Fred had a slightly solemn look "Sometimes life just plays out that way, we don't really have any say in it either." he put a hand on James' right shoulder "Fear not, the place hasn't changed too much since you were last here, come let me show you to your office."

James nodded and stood up "Lead the way si-Fred."

The two walked in sync, exiting the dining hall down the left hall. Taking another left The two men continued. This hallway however had private party rooms. The whole time James could do nothing but reminisce of the time he spent here as a young child specifically the day of his fourteenth birthday...

 _"Little Jem, what's wrong?" A gentle female voice said from across the table._

 _The animatronic vixen's face lacked any form of blemish, Her face lacked any form of makeup, except for her lips which gleamed in a cherry red lipstick. The fox's golden eyes focused themselves on her companion across from her, who looked annoyed as ever._

 _James started to tap his fingers against the table while staring back at his adopted animatronic sister with an annoyed look."What, oh... I'm fine just thinking about something that happened at home."_

 _"Jem... What happened?" She asked._

 _"Nothing Mangle, I'm fine" James responded._

 _"James. What. Happened?" Mangle's voice became hard and serious and her eyes became a bit glossy._

 _"I... I'm moving, and I don't know if I will be coming back.. Mangle I-I dont want to go, but Im not being given much of a choice." James' voice got low "I'd rather stay here, with you and the rest of the gang.. Mangle I-I don't want to lose the only family that cares about me."_

 _The white vixen leaned over across the table and hugged James gently._

 _"Hey, My little Jem, it's alright. You can't control it and you know that none of us will think any less of you.." Mangle smiled gently "I'll be right back, stay here."_

 _James nodded his head and remained there._

 _Mangle strode over to pirates cove where she found the little gift box she had set aside for James "There it is." picking it up gently she made her way back to James._

 _"Mangle, shouldn't you be performing?" James asked._

 _"No, not right now see, the manager knows it's your birthday so I technically don't need to worry about performing until you leave." She smiled gently. "Here James, this is for you."_

 _James looked up from the table and noted the little box in Mangle's hands "W-whats this?"_

 _"A birthday gift for you" Mangle beamed and her eyes seemingly got three times brighter. "Go ahead and open it."_

 _James opened the gift and pulled out a nice golden locket, he opened the locket and choked up when he saw the two pictures the first one of the entire gang smiling with him in the middle of the group, the second picture being of him and mangle smiling and hugging. "M-mangle this is too much."_

 _Mangle pulled James into a gentle hug with which he returned happily "Oh Jem."_

 _James' Phone rang, taking it out he frowned "Mangle, I-I have to go. I don't know when I'll be able to come back."_

 _"Oh My little Jem.." Mangle's eye began to tear up with tears "Promise me you'll try to come back."_

 _"I-I will Mangle, promise me you'll tell the others why im leaving..." James was crying at this point "Mangle, please tell the others I love you all, and Mangle" I love you, thanks for being the friend that I never had.. "_

 _James and Mangle stood up and walked to the door where James gave one final hug and left the building. Mangle stood there watching her best friend leaving for the last time "Goodbye little Jem." tears were falling from her eyes when Foxy walked up to her and gave her a hug._

 _"What's tha matter lassie?"_

 _Mangle shoved her head into Foxy's chest and didn't say a word._

James felt himself being shaken out of his memory, "You okay my boy?" Fred asked.

"Y-yeah, sorry.. Just a memory is all. " James motioned for Fred to keep going.

Fred Turned around and kept walking towards the security office "You'll be in here, it's relatively boring at night so, the internet is left on."

James smiled "Sounds good, so I just keep partial watch of the building until... 6?"

Fred nodded "if you need to eat the staff fridge should have something in it, likewise with coffee."

James sat down on the security chair.

"Let's get your work account set up so you may access the cameras." Fred said.

"Thanks Fred, I'll try not to let you down boss." James mock saluted.

Fred Laughed lightly and waved "I'll see you in the morning James" with that Fred left.

James stood up, grabbed his flashlight and walked down the hall, made a right and walked to the dining hall. "And the Staff room is... Down this way."

James turned around and went to walk back down the hallway he just exited when he saw the door on his immediate right "Oh, there it is."

James entered the room and made a beeline for the cupboard. He grabbed a thermos, put some hot chocolate powder in it and put a pot of water on the stove to boil. He sat down at the staff table and drummed his fingers against the table. James let his memories get the better of him.

 _"Mom! Why are we moving!?" James yelled out in anger._

 _"Because your father tried to kill me!" James' mother screamed._

 _"So because you're to scared to go to the police you're going to rip me away from my only friends!" James yelled._

 _His mother didn't say anything, she grabbed a wooden spoon and hit James causing him to bleed. "Pack. Up. Now. And. Don't. Say. Another. Word!"_

 _James ran up the stairs and hid in his room. Gently caressing his head. "I don't want to leave..."_

"Yarr lassie, ye hear we got a new night guard?" Foxy asked.

"Yes Foxy, I did..." Mangle looked down at her locket and popped it open, she stared longingly into the pictures.

"Lassie.. Lassie, ah know ye miss tha lad but 'e's gone an there ain't nothing we can do about it."

"But what if he comes home, what if he comes back to us!?" Mangle retorted.

"Arr, lass. Jus' 'e's gone" Foxy looked down "Ah wish it wasn't true, but the lad be gone, we lost a member of the family tha day, but we can't be dwelling on tha."

Mangle sighed, closed the locket "I suppose you're right Foxy, but what if he did."

Foxy didn't know what to say so he shrugged and walked to the counter.

"I know what we'd do" the voice of Freddy scared Mangle. "We'd welcome him home like he never left, it'd be completely wrong of us to do otherwise"

Mangle perked up "B-But what if he forgot us... What if he doesn't remember the family he left behind?" Mangles voice was but a whisper.

"Then we 'Ave ta do it all over again, but ah' m will in ta try" Foxy said.

"Foxy, can you make me a coffee please?" Mangle asked.

"Mhmm lass" Foxy pulled out an individual cup for Mangle and prepared her coffee. Foxy grabbed a cup for himself, poured the hot coffee and brought them back to the table.

"Foxy... Promise me you mean what you said about starting over again if you have to... Please?!"

Foxy nodded "Ye 'Ave me word lassie."

The rest of the gang came out of their rooms and went about their business.

James sighed, "Time to go" James grabbed his cup, poured the hot water, stirred it up, grabbed it and walked out, gently closing the door behind him.

James started to walk to the security office when he felt a heavy hand fell on his shoulder spinning him around.

"Well, well, well. It is true, a night guard, you know at first I thought Fred was messing with us... But now? I'm curious, why did Fred hire you youngin? " A gruff slightly southern voice asked.

"B-Because I was looking for a job.." James stuttered out. His fear getting the better of him."Y-Y-You're not going to hurt me r-right?" James asked.

The voice laughed "Heavens no youngster, as it were I didn't mean to scare ya, names Freddy. Yours?"

"J-Ja-James..."

"Lad, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you" Freddy's voice had no trace of deceit in it.

"I-I" James took a moment to collect himself "I'm sorry Freddy, I just didn't expect to see you is all."

Freddy nodded his head, "if you'll excuse me youngin I need to go attend to my family"

A loud crash resonated throughout the restaurant "that sounded expensive" James joked.

Freddy responded by walking calmly back to the animatronics respective section of the restaurant.

James on the other hand had nearly soiled himself, and managed to amble weakly back to his security office where he was safe. However he did have a job to do and that required he looked through the cameras. James picked up the tablet and struggled with getting it to turn on "Goddamn sunnova.. . Oh there we go" James looked at the layout, noting a section that had no cameras with which he assumed was the animatronics private area.

Putting the tablet down he sipped his hot chocolate, nearly choking when he saw two golden yellow eyes peering at him from the darkness. His first thought was to scream however something was far too familiar to him. Blinking, he recoiled when the eyes were no longer there. "All righty then?"

James spent the rest of the night bored out of his senses, he did everything to try to keep busy, but nothing helped. All he could do was sit by and watch the time slowly tick ever onward.

"Damn is it ever boring" James threw some paper "Shoulda brought some music or something." James sat back in his chair. He almost nodded off were it not for the grandfather clock ringing out signalling the end of his shift.

James gathered his things and made to leave, the entire time however he felt as though he were being watched. James sighed "you know, _watching_ someone is no way to get to _know_ them, if you want to talk to me please be my guest, here from 12:00 to 6:00, gets kind of lonely. Goodbye."

With that James left the building, made for his Red Explorer and went home to rest and prepare for the next excruciatingly long night shift he had tomorrow..


	2. A Painful Past

**Welcome back to returning home. Please see the end of the chapter for Authors notes**

 **Chapter 2**

 **"You don't choose your family, your family chooses you"**

* * *

James had made two stops on his way home. One of which revolved around him getting a coffee and the other being him using the washroom of a gas station. The drive had been otherwise uneventful. Parking his car, James made his way into the apartment building. The building in question was nothing extraordinary, just a simple brick and mortar building.

James ascended the stairs to his third floor apartment, fumbled with his keys and pushed the door open. Slowly walking in and dropping his duffel bag he looked around. "Home sweet shitty home"

James' apartment was much like the building it was situated in, nothing out of the ordinary except for the fact the building itself had more furniture than his apartment. James' apartment in question had one couch, a very small TV on the floor and a small plastic container serving as a coffee table.

James moved into his bedroom and fell backwards on his bed. His bedroom only had a bed in it. No posters for the wall, no dresser, not even a bed frame. To say he was living a normal life was an understatement. James didn't have time to do anything else before he was under the cloak of sleep.

* * *

 _James awoke in a field of blackened grass, trees devoid of leafs and a pitch black sky._

 _"This is... New" James said._

 _James walked forward and brushed his hand against a bush. Yet it was as if the bush had never been touched at all._

 _"Definitely weird" James mumbled._

 _"Little Jem?" A gentle female voice rang out among the field. Yet no-one was in sight._

 _"Lad?" this time an accented voice called out. James looked around yet coming up with the same results as before, nothing._

 _"Hello!? Who is here?" James called out, only to be frustrated when no-one answered._

 _James continued to walk forward intent to find out what was going on._

 _"Son?" A male voice echoed out of the void._

 _"Oh I get it, my brain is going to fucking torment me for having left my family against my will. Well screw you brain!" James yelled._

 _"An' who ye be ta take away me lad!?" the accented voice yelled out again, this time as if in anger towards someone else._

 _"Fucking... Great, literally just WHAT I Needed" James threw a fist out in anger but hit nothing._

 _"Son, you need to understand. We aren't normal robots..." The Male voice whispered, as though it were right next to James' ear._

 _James quit walking aimlessly and stood there. "Yeah, I-I gathered that long ago Freddy"_

 _"JEM! ARE YOU OKAY!?" the female voice screamed in fear, James dropped to his knees, it was as if her voice was inside his skull... Driving its way into his very soul._

 _James did however, remember that scream. "That has to be the day I split open the scar on my stomach... God, I scared them all so bad" James gently brushed the scar on his stomach... Although he wasnt in the real world he could still feel the long ugly scar that spread from the end of his sternum to his right hip "Even to this day I can't believe my father did that to me"_

 _The world around him lit up suddenly, as if someone had sent a sun into a supernova._

 _"Laddie?" The Accented male voice called "What be tha matter lad?"_

 _James didn't move nor did he get up. James lost track of time and was only brought back to his senses when hands covered him and pulled him into the darkness, James however did not fight back. He let them take him. The Last thing he saw was a blackened hand cover his face._

* * *

James woke up in a fit, he was dry heaving and his cheeks were puffed out and red.

"Mr Bryant, open up! I know you're here!" A gruff voice yelled.

James stopped all movement and sighed "Shit"

The man with the gruff voice started to bang on the door "Bryant, you open this fucking door right now, or so help me I will come in there!"

James stumbled to his feet, quickly donning a shirt and pants he rushed to the door. "Remember, no punching James... Deep breath"

Hesitantly he opened the door. "Yes William, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You owe me rent money Bryant, that's what" He yelled in James' face.

James looked up and smirked "yes we'll, I believe you owe yourself a breath mint and anger management courses, no wonder why the school division filed restraining orders on you"

William backed away, "H-how do you know that you cripple"

James leaned in, mere inches from Williams face "You forget... Sir, I was a firefighter. And I remember talking to alot, I mean alot of police officers in my time. And your name came up many times. For instance, I know you're a repeat offender and sexually assaulted your kid. Of course it wasn't the first time"

William stood, frozen stiff. He however quickly recuperated and got into James' face "Y-you tell anyone, I'll kill you, understand"

James' smirk accelerated from a grin to a full blown smile. "Good luck with that, you see. My phone has a dead man's switch. Meaning if I die, this conversation is emailed to my friends in the police" James sighed, he hated resorting to threats "I may be poor William, but I AM NOT stupid. Now if you'll excuse me I have things to do" James closed the door in Williams face, the fake smile he had dying immediately.

"God I hate myself" James sauntered to the kitchen and made himself some coffee. Grabbing the news paper he slowly turned the pages until he got to something that piqued his interest. "Firefighters battle massive asphalt storage tank fire, Fourteen firefighters were injured in the blaze and another thirty are being treated for chemical burns to their lungs" James sighed and said a few words for his brothers and sisters "The bell from hell put your dispatcher on the horn with a call of a tinder box Adress, you answered that call. You did what you could, My only regret is being crippled and not being able to return to you all" James raised his coffee cup up in silent salute.

James was having a hard enough time forgetting what happened to his arm. But yet here he was, looking at images of that fateful day...

* * *

 _"Attention Winnipeg Fire, Attention Winnipeg fire. Industrial fire, 1450 Joshua Street, Be advised the building is a school, Engine 9 and Ladder 33, you are the first due. Your time out is 18:46. Stay safe"_

 _The captain of Engine 9 grabbed his radio, and without hesitation said "We always are Dispatch" he let go and looked to James "Let's get the baby rolling"_

 _James gave a slight smirk, flicked the switches for the lights and started to roll out of the engine bay, ladder 33 close behind him. Upon making it to a more busy street James put his left foot on the pedal for the Q siren and let it scream at the idots that didn't see him coming._

 _"You know where we're going James?" one of the members in the back of the truck asked._

 _"Yeah, that Adress... It's my old school" James' demeanor hardened._

 _James slammed on the breaks however when a semi truck came out of nowhere, the damage was done though. And neither party could stop on time, also due in part to the black ice on the roads. "HOLD ON EVERYONE!" James yelled. And mere seconds later a sickening crunching was heard, The impact was so forceful it ripped the seatbelt apart and ejected James straight out of the windshield._

 _James tried desperately to get up from where he was. However. He couldn't feel his left arm. "Help.." he was barely able to mutter anything else out._

 _James lay there for what felt like hours. The ladder truck that was following them had pulled over and were trying to find James, everyone else in the engine had been unscathed save for a few bumps due to James' quick reaction. He had taken the brunt of it._

 _"JAMES! ARE YOU OUT THERE BROTHER!?"_

 _James' heart lept upon hearing his best friend from the ladder call out. He tried to respond but could only scream in pain when he accidentally hit his sprained ankle. That however was enough for his friend to find him. The light from his flashlight passed over James and within seconds he jumped down the minor hill and rushed to James side._

 _He grabbed his radio. Said radio was full of fellow firefighters involved trying to get help their way when he spoke "Break, Break, Firefighter down, I repeat we have a firefighter down, we're just past the wreck and down the incline. Be careful coming down its icey" He let the radio fall back down just as the dispatcher pressed a button on his end and a trio of terrifying tones rang out._

 _"Hang in there buddy, we got you, we... Got... You..."_

 _James' hearing faded after that and he couldn't remember anything save for the distant flashes of red and white lights, and his friends mouth moving making sounds that he couldn't comprehend._

" God. If only I had seen that semi seconds sooner... I could've avoided this" James let a quick sob out before he composed himself and made for his light wind breaker. Quickly checking the time he moaned "I'm going to be late!" and with that he ran out of the house and got into his SUV, driving off to Freddy's.

* * *

 **End, yes I'm aware I haven't been able to update in a few weeks. However. Like I said prior I do have school amongst other things. I respectfully appreciate the patience you're all giving me. However. Updates will not be a normal thing especially as I have to use my phone for now. (Computer has died again) that's one of the reasons why this chapter is so short.**

 **Anyways. Updates might normalize a bit after my exams. But I won't guarantee anything as of yet.**

 **Dinovictor: Thank you, I have no intentions of stopping anytime soon. Things will just be slow for a while.**

 **Justin Sewell: I appricate that you like it. Just bear with me on updates.**

 **Phantom 1968: I'm glad you feel it has potential, I feel as though I'm beating my head Into a wall especially seeing as I'm not used to writing in 3rd person. As I said to Dinkvictor I've no plans on stopping. Just being slow, who knew the final year of highschool could hit me so hard.**


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